DEAF WATCH----June, 1997 Greetings Everyone. Next month, July, the trial phase of my discrimination lawsuit against Disney Co. is expected to begin. The torturous depositions in which I was subjected to such incredibly insensitive line of questioning are over. I will be very busy with the trial and my July issue may be affected. This newsletter is being sent out early because I will be very busy with my Disney case, CAD convention, and other areas including promoting acessibility to Deaf consumers, educating Deaf workers of their rights and. This time it's going to be very busy. To those of you going to the California Association of the Deaf Convention in San Diego next week, I hope to meet you there. I am presently forging alliances with the Southern Baptists and the Mexican community. I will be helping Southern Baptists promote some of their family values posistions and I have and will continue to help Mexicans with their anti Prop-209 activities. A short note that OC-Court did attempt to prevent me from jury duty on Sept 20, 1996. About 2 months earlier I had received jury duty notice and called the jury commissioner on that day to schedule an interpreter for my day in the jury pool. (I had incorrectly stated 2 weeks earlier in my previous communications) They kept on asking me if I wanted to be excused and I say no and I wanted to have an interpreter there on that day. We rescheduled the jury pool day to Monday January 13, 1997 just to give them plenty of time to find an interpreter. They were thankful and they said they would work on something out. On the 21st of September I got this post card from the Orange County Superior Court. They had decided to excuse me from jury service probably they didn't want to find me an interpreter. The postcard can be seen at (http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/occourt.gif). I base this on the fact shown on the postcard that they decided to excuse me on or around Sept 20, 1996 from jury duty on Jan 13, 1997. They still had plenty of time to find an interpreter. Most interpreter agencies require at least 7 business days to find interpreters. It is safe to say the decision to excuse me this far early was deliberate and not because they couldn't find an interpreter. I called them again on the same day asking them why they excused me and they said I called them and asked to be excused which was indicated on their computer. I told them I never asked to be excused and I demanded them to find an interpreter. I called on January 10 and asked if they had found an interpreter. They said yes and they were ready to accommodate my needs. That day at the jury pool I was excused by the defendant's lawyers. Since this day there has been several improvements in the way they handle Deaf people. On June 11, I visited the same courthhouse and and they showed that they have a tdd number on the jury summons plus the handicap symbol and that they used the term "special arrangements" in place of 'acommodations' on a section of the summons. They are moving in the right direction. Not to mention that a prospective Deaf juror had a hard time getting herself excused which shows that equal treatment was starting to surface there. I hope with all this, Deaf people will go and serve juries when theyr'e called and not beg to be excused cause 'I am deaf'. I want to see Deaf people taking part in judicial proccess more as a plaintiff or as a juror over than being just a defendant. The Editor ************************************************************* HOW TO LOBBY EFFECTIVELY by George A. Adams III I.DETERMINE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO LOBBY FOR. A. ADA requirements B. Bill in Legislature regarding deafness C. Other issues. II. WHERE TO FIND THE OTHER AGENCIES? A. Ask your library for any information. B. Use the telephone book or sources to get names, addresses, phone and fax numbers or e-mail addresses. (You must connect with the right people.) III. HOW TO WRITE AND WHEN TO LOBBY? A. Write a simple and specific letter explaining what you are lobbying about. B. With state legislators, be sure to have the proper bill number, so they will know which one. C. You must know WHEN they are going to vote on that bill, you must be prepared in advanced of the voting time. D. The best time to start lobbying is in early January, when the new session starts. The state legislators will finalize their session during th last week of June. IV. SHOULD YOU LOBBY BY YOURSELF OR GATHER SIGNATURES OF DEAF AND OTHER GROUP DISABILITY GROUPS? A. Make copies of the lobbying letter and distribute them to each deaf person and other disability groups to write to their state legislators or other agencies. Individual letters will give more impact on the state legislators or other agencies. B. It won't be easy to get individuals to write, sign, and mail individual letters. Be responsible for remembering to lobby and mail your letter. C. Make two or three copies to share with other deaf and disability groups to sign as a petition. You collect the signed letters and mail them yourself to be sure that it is done properly. V. WHAT IS YOU DON'T HEAR FROM THEM? A. Most of them will respond to your letter, and a few will not, so that's natural. Don't be alarmed or worry about it. Those who don't answer maybe have no concerns with the rights of the people with disabilities or don't have the time to write. Sometimes it takes quiet a while to get a response. B. Be sure to have a good relationship with that agency, so in the future you can keep in touch, especially the state legislators and other state agencies. C. Keep in touch with the agencies and state legislators by writing or calling. Once a month is a good time schedule. They want to hear from you. VI. WHAT OTHER SOURCES WILL INFLUENCE THE AGENCY OR STATE LEGISLATORS TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS? A. Write an article for the editorial page of your local newspapers. Get your deaf friends to help write the article of concern abut legal rights. Get out and write. Freedom of press and freedom of speech give you the right to let people know your opinion. Find someone who you trust to help write letters. B. Call your local TV station to set up an interview. TV, newspaper, & radio are all media that you can use for interviews. Make your points clear to the public. Schedule your interview beforehand instead of interviewing after the event so you can have a relaxing interview. Being interviewed by TV reporters will expose to the general public your concern. A lot of agencies don't like to have their name exposed to the public. USE THOSE SECRET WEAPONS THAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT OVER THE YEARS IN LOBBYING. WRITE ARTICLES OR HAVE THE NEWSPAPER REPORTER TO WRITE IT BEFOREHAND. THEN CALL IN THE TWO TV STATIONS TO AN INTERVIEW BEFOREHAND. You will be surprised how much impact this will have on the agency. VII. BE SURE THAT ALL THE DEAF AND OTHER DISABILITY GROUPS AGREE WITH YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE NEED TO LOBBY BEFORE YOU GO AHEAD. A. Go to any Deaf Club and ask the deaf community for their considerations and support. Have the petition letter prepared fro them to sign up. B. Go to the Dept. of Outreach Services (DOS) and ask for their support on these issues. Have the petition letter prepared for them to sign. C. Get other handicapped organizations to support you--like the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Disability Action Committee (DAC), Senior Citizens or Aging Coalition and other groups. Urge them to jump in the same boat and help contact agencies and state legislators. The important thing is to try to develop a relationship with other organizations to work together with you. Tell them that if they support you, you will support their group. We need to work in unity for a strong voice. D. Many times, other groups will ask you to speak before their group. Take advantage of that and give a clear, specific and short message. VIII. WHAT IF THEY DON'T LISTEN TO THE DISABILITY PEOPLE? A. Don't give up. Keep on fighting. B. The agency/business/organization will give in one way or another. C. Most of the time you fail the first time with an agency, then you feel hopeless and give up. Don't do that. Keep on fighting until they are convinced. IX. GET DISABILITY GROUPS TO CALL THE AGENCY OR LEGISLATORS TO SUPPORT THE BILL. A. You have to make a brief statement asking them to support the bill by calling through RELAY service. B. Have the list of legislator's names and addresses prepared. Then divide it up among the list of people you think will help to call the legislators. Find this information at your library. C. Prepare a statement for disability groups of what to say in telephone communication. For Example: Identify the agency's name: House Representative Long, My name is George Adams, I would like for you to support Bill Number----------------. Thank you, George Adams III OR Identify the agency's name: Senator Long My name is George Adams, I would like for you support this fund for the Dept. of Outreach Services for the Deaf and Blind in Conway, SC. Thank You, George Adams III X. WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF LOBBYING FOR RIGHTS OF DISABLED? A. The individual that is disabled or disabled groups have the responsibility to do it themselves. They are grown adults and should not expect someone else to do it for them. B. Don't ever ask non-disabled people to take over your responsibility to do it for you. Most of the time non-disabled people don't know what is best for our needs. You know what is best to accommodate your needs. It is the individual's responsibility to lobby any bill with any agency or state legislator. C. If you are not sure, you can ask others for advice. Be sure to listen to advice from disabled people FIRST and have an opening discussion about each issue. D. You can ask for help in writing your lobby letter. Be sure to explain it clearly in sign language with specific goals before the other person makes corrections into English. ************************************************************* IDEA PASSES WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate overwhelmingly passed and sent to President Clinton today an updated bill guaranteeing an education for millions of disabled children. The measure also seeks to resolve important questions of classroom discipline and legal costs. The 98-1 vote brushed aside objections from a handful of lawmakers who said the bill does too little to protect other students and teachers from unruly, disabled students or hold down legal fees to schools. The vote ends more than two years of wrangling over how to update and extend the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The 22-year-old civil rights law says children with disabilities should be brought into regular classrooms as much as possible. The House easily passed the measure on Tuesday, 420-3. The bill has the support of the Clinton administration. "This legislation strengthens and reaffirms our commitment to these children and their parents, and I look forward to signing it into the law," Clinton said. Associated Press ************************************************************* Deaf Child is Third to Sue Maryland Hospital for Discrimination CHEVERLY, MARYLAND -- Latia Falls, an eight-year-old deaf child, and her mother Toschia Falls, filed a lawsuit against Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Maryland, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights laws on Thursday, May 8, 1997, in federal district court, alleging that the hospital discriminated against Latia on the basis of her deafness by refusing to provide sign language interpreter services to enable her to understand what was happening to her during her five-day stay at the hospital. On Christmas Day, 1996, Latia was brought to the emergency room at Prince George's Hospital Center by her mother after she became ill. Her mother immediately informed hospital staff that a sign language interpreter was necessary for hospital personnel to communicate effectively with Latia, who is deaf. But the hospital never provided an interpreter for Latia--either in the emergency room or at any other time during her five-day stay, despite her mother's repeated requests. Without a means to communicate and understand why she was feeling sick and what was going to happen to her, Latia became frightened, anxious and withdrawn. In the complaint, Latia and Toschia Falls, represented by Laura Rovner and Marc Charmatz of the National Association of the Deaf Law Center and Lisel Loy and Douglas Parker of the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center, allege that Prince George's Hospital Center's failure to provide interpreter services for Latia discriminates against her on the basis of her deafness in violation of Title II of the ADA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Under these statutes, state and local government entities and places that receive federal funds, including hospitals, must provide auxiliary aids and services for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to ensure effective communication between the parties. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Prince George's Hospital Center has been the subject of charges of discrimination against deaf people. It's outrageous that this keeps happening," stated Lisel Loy, attorney for Falls. In 1993, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a letter of finding against the hospital for various violations of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. That finding was issued after two deaf people filed complaints against the hospital for failing to provide them with sign language interpreter services during hospital visits. Following the letter of finding, the hospital agreed to improve its procedures for providing sign language interpreter services for deaf patients. By 1995, however, Prince George's Hospital Center had still not resolved its problems with providing sign language interpreter services to deaf patients. In April of 1995, two other deaf people were treated for serious medical conditions at the hospital without sign language interpreter services. James Proctor was brought to the hospital following a motorcycle accident. "His leg was amputated below the knee, but he didn't know that for almost a week after the surgery because the hospital didn't make an interpreter available to him," said Loy. Similarly, Yvette Ward, another deaf patient, was unable to communicate with hospital staff during multiple visits for problems related to her pregnancy, and ultimately, her miscarriage. Both Proctor and Ward have also filed civil rights lawsuits against the hospital in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The NAD Law Center has safeguarded the legal rights of deaf and hard of hearing people since 1976. The Law Center, originally called the NAD Legal Defense Fund, brings significant cases in federal courts to establish legal principles of equal access and non-discrimination. Law Center cases have involved employment, education, insurance, access to courts, health care and social services. In addition to direct representation, the Law Center provides technical assistance and legal information to deaf and hard of hearing persons, parents, employers, government agencies, businesses, and other people interested in legal issues involving deafness. The National Association of the Deaf is the nation's largest consumer organization safeguarding the accessibility and civil rights of 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans in education, employment, health care, and telecommunications. Focuses on grassroots advocacy and empowerment, captioned media, deafness-related information and publications, legal assistance, policy development and research, public awareness, and youth leadership development. More information on the NAD can found on the World Wide Web at http://www.nad.org. (NAD press release) ************************************************************* Companies who harass/discriminate against the disabled usually end up paying large sums of money! $1,304,000 for disability harassment. A man who uses a motorized wheelchair was hired under Affirmative Action for the data processing department, worked for 12 years, and was promoted to supervisor. When he got a new manager, she commented about his disability, made fun of his wheelchair and said he did not "look professional." He went out on stress leave after 30 days of this treatment, and then sued. $2,424,000 to disabled Texas worker. A woman was injured on the job, filed for workers compensation, denied reasonable accommodation for her disabilities, and then fired. The court held illegal retaliation. 400-pound man wins $1 million. He was fired from his job at Kragen Auto Parts after 10 years. A San Francisco jury in September found disability discrimination. $3.2 million for disability discrimination. A high-ranking manager who developed multiple sclerosis received this amount because his employer did not go far enough to reasonably accommodate his disability. He had requested that the employer reduce his hours from 55-60 a week to 40. ************************************************************* RED FLAGS THAT SIGNAL SUBTLE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING Sometimes, recognizing discrimination is easy. The rental office might tell you "You can't live here because you are handicapped." But more often it is subtle (secret) and difficult to recognize. Such as these examples below of less obvious discrimination: "You can't live here because there is no one to take care of you." "I'd like to rent to you, but my insurance will go up." "I can't rent to you because you are deaf and can't hear when the fire alarm goes off." "I can't sell you one of the homes we're building because you will require too many expensive modifications." "We have a `no pets' rule, and that includes your guide dog." "Since you were in an institution, you won't be safe living by yourself." "Since you used to be a drug addict, I'm afraid you'll be a danger to other tenants." "You won't be able to get out of your apartment because of your wheelchair." "We have apartments set aside for handicapped, but they're full." If you or you hear a friend talk about strange comments like above when trying to find a place to live, please contact or direct your friend to contact an attorney right away. (Portions from National Fair Housing Advocate Web Site www.fairhousing.com) ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. DEAFology 101 (http://www.kenstarcorp.com/profglick/) It is a funny and resourceful site. The Deaf Resource Library (http://pantheon.yale.edu/~nakamura/deaf/) This is a SUPER website! Tauscher's Deaf Links (http://www.primenet.com/~tauscher/index.html) This is another SUPER website! Deaf Fellowship for Jesus (http://spruce.evansville.edu/~lb3/) This is a great site with lots of resources The Oakton High School, A.S.L. Homepage (http://www.oakton.org/academics/flang/asl/) This is a good website. ************************************************************* "There are no limits as to what we can possibly do with our lives" Deaf Comedienne Kathy Buckley ************************************************************* "We the people with disabilities have a message: We are not going to be second class citizens any more." Justin Dart, Jr. known as "Father of the ADA" ************************************************************* Letters from readers. HI, This is Drew Gutches, I was called to serve as jury for DC court, 4 years ago, I showed there and I find that there is no public TTY and I missed the name that I was called to be sent to court room, they filed that I was absent (since I cannot hear my name), I learned this by I checked with clerk at office, it make me angry, I demanded to have interpreter with me all time. I filed complaint with Gallaudet Law center for the deaf. They center wrote a letter to court. I noticed that Public TTYs installed. Last fall, again, I was called to serve, I showed there and there is no interpreter showed, I learned that Data entry operator did not entry my request for interpreter. I told them forget it and went home, I do not want to fight it.... Court interpreter told me that no one filed the complain against the DC court before me. (4 years ago). I feel that other deaf should file it against the DC court. gutches3@aol.com Note: If you are interested letters from lawyer, I can scan it and email to you Drew -------------------- Hello >George Adams III, You can find such bills only yourself I believe. I have doubt that county bills especially expired ones, can be found on Internet, therefore the only way to fInd them is a search at local public libraries or archives of city halls. However it seems better to try to expand Affirmative Action Program on local level. Say currently law requires all Federal government contractors adopt A.A.P. a) So it'd be a good idea require the same for local government contractors. Accommodation expenses for disabled, particular deaf, are coverable by Federal tax payments. b) It'd be a good idea provide such feature from local taxes if Federal taxes amount is not enough. It'll allow enroll small businesses in participation A,A.P. c) It'd be a good idea to implement provision that violation AAP would exclude SBA funded services for small businesses, such as SBA guaranteed loans, training and so on. Information about Equal Employment Opportunity and AAP can be obtained at US Department of Labor 202/219-9491(9390). They send a booklet with specifics implementation those Statues. These laws can be used for a draft your version "quotes" however it doesn't seem practical since AAP handles this problem. Sincerely - Pribytkov l.pribytkov@juno.com -------------------------- Hi folks! Here is another case of discrimination which I feel is important to share with the Deaf Community and the supporters. Important that we stay United! Anyway, the NAD (Natl Assn of Deaf) Law Center did not think this was a priority or a good enough case to review. I, as a deaf person, applied for a part-time job at SuperCrown Books in Wash. DC. Was offered an interview. I went without an interp but seemed to go very well. The manager, Susan Bond, and I communicated by writing. She said she was interested in hiring me but would get back to me as soon as she contacted her supervisor. I never heard from them again. I called and left msgs and showed up at the store to follow up but the manager was never in. I let this one go. Then I applied for the second time at the same store. There was a different manager, Ann Haak, who interviewed me and this time I brought a volunteer interp. It also went well and at the end of interview she said, "Don't tell this to anyone but I want to hire you and have to talk to my supervisor about getting an interpreter for the two days training." I was happy to be able to earn extra $$. However, I never heard from them again. I did the same thing, showing up, leaving messages. Then a person at the store said the supervisor did not want to pay for an interp at the training. I filed a complaint with EEOC. They said it was not good enough but sent me the "Right to Sue," papers. I asked NAD if they could help me out. They turned me down. I would like to ask for your support and call SuperCrown Books at 202-319-1374/voice and demand that they hire a deaf person. Talk to a manager there. And spread the word about their bigotry. Or, for those tight on budget, write to SuperCrown at 11 Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC 20009. MANY THANKS!!! Let's stay United!!!! Alex --------------- Real World Success is proud to announce two upcoming Workshops scheduled on: Topic: "Effective Leadership for Changing Organization" Org: Greater Philadelphia Chapter of PSAD Location: West Chester, PA Date: June 20, 1997 Time: 8:45 pm to 9:30 pm Topic: Interpreters Issues Org: PSAD Convention Location: Gettysburg, PA Date: July 24, 1997 Time: 9:00 am to 10:30 am Richard Morris, the founder of Real World Success will give out the presentation for those two workshops. If you have any questions about the workshops, send an E-Mail to RWSuccess@aol.com Real World Success provides Professional Development & Success Motivation services for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing. It's address is: http://www.realworldsuccess.com Contact RWSpress@aol.com if you have any questions regarding the RWS Web Site. Thanks, RWSPress ------------------------------------------------------------ - DEAF WATCH - Circulation by EMAIL : 208 Subscribers - Chief Editor/Editor : Richard Roehm - Orange County, California - Internet : Deaf@activist.com - Nesmuth@bbs.hwsys.com - Nesmuth@concentric.net - DEAF WATCH Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/deaf.htm - Visit Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/nez.htm - Help Us Out at Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/hlphand.htm ------------------------------------------------------------- - SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION - To be added to the mailing list, send "SUBSCRIBE" - To be deleted from the mailing list send "DELETE" - to this address NESMUTH@EDENBBS.COM - to this address NESMUTH@BBS.HWSYS.COM - - Mailing lists are not sold/given to anyone. -------------------------------------------------------------